26: A Real Shocker

Kyle Carter woke up in the middle of the room that he'd grown used to over the last few months. After the other day's escapade, he had been submitted to more forceful ways of talking. They had wired something to the back of his neck, which generated electricity and could attack anything in his body that was controlled by his Central Nervous System. It was a little silver ball, not even the size of his pinkie finger nail, which looked more like an earring pierced on a weird place than a torture device.

The man in the white suit and the blue rose - the only one he'd seen who wore a blue rose, so maybe blue was important? - who had been interviewing him stared at him in anger. His eyes were perfectly normal and crystal blue, instead of the evil full-black they had been yesterday. If looks could kill, that look would be a machine gun and Kyle would have lost a lot of blood.

"Your little incident yesterday is very dangerous. You could've died, even if I hadn't set the trap," the man said with a measured voice.

"Oh, really?" Kyle asked sarcastically. The man calmly reached over and pressed a button on his chair's arm. Kyle jolted and fell forward onto his face.

"I thought I told you not to speak," the man said, standing up and pushing Kyle up back into his seat. Kyle remained motionless, paralyzed from the neck down. His eyes watered up from the pent up scream of pain.

"Now," the man continued, sitting back down and smoothing out his white tuxedo jacket, "I'm going to unfreeze you, and you're going to say nothing except tell me your story."

The man pressed another button. Kyle gasped.

"Why don't you just tell me what this is all about, you stupid bass-"

Kyle was cut off again, and lunged out of his chair, back stiffening. He slumped onto his side on the floor, breathing hard. The man pressed the button, and held it down, causing Kyle to flap around on the ground like a fish out of water, spasming every second. The man released the button.

"Speak."

Kyle looked up at him, angry, then opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Choose your words carefully, Carter. We don't want you to go into cardiac arrest from all this discipline."

Kyle stood there among the crowd, looking up at the glowing red eyes that filled the entire screen.

A man cried in some strange blubbery language. Kyle's lanyard beeped, and translated to English. Several other lanyards in the crowd did the same. "What do you want?" Came a hundred small, tinny voices.

"What do I want?" The audio-filtered deep voice repeated. "What I want is something very simple. Control over the entire galaxy."

Another attendee shouted something angrily. The rough English translation was "That's preposterous!"

"It's a big thing to want. But it's my only request, and it's something you can give me pretty easily without anyone getting hurt. Now, can anyone tell me why you're here?"

No one spoke up.

"Nobody? What a shame. I was made aware that the entire reason for this convention was to draw up an agreement between all representatives of all three parties."

Noises spouted from the black-shelled man right next to Kyle.

"All three? But the third party doesn't do anything!"

"Or, from both parties," the deep voice corrected himself. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. The point I was trying to make was, you're all going to sign over your respective areas of control over to me, or die. It's pretty simple, quick, and easy..." a pause. The eyes looked away from the camera for a moment. "... you there! Yes, you! Take the document downstairs to our prisoners and hand out some pens. Right now. There's a good soldier."

The eyes turned back around to face the convention-goers below.

"Remember: sign or die."

"Why shouldn't we think you're bluffing?" Doctor Bradley shouted. Piott shot him a glare, and Bradley sunk away. "I mean, uh, nevermind."

"No, no, I think you're making a valid point, there, sir." The voice said. "I think I can prove it to you."

Soldiers burst out of every door, holding up guns and shouting. Everyone screamed. Bradley grabbed Piott, who grabbed grabbed Kyle. "Stay with me, Kyle," Piott ordered. The soldiers grabbed everyone and started hauling them outside. Thousands of silver cylinders rose from the infinite ocean of sand, and people were shoved in. Kyle, Piott, and Bradley were enclosed in one. It was hot and cramped inside, the only source of light a mottled skylight above them, barely wide enough to stick one's hand through, even if there wasn't a thick disc of glass in it.

There was a screeching of rusty gears that sounded like a little girl screaming her lungs out, and the cylinder started moving downward back into the ground. Sand soon covered up the glass above them, enclosing them in darkness.

"Where did these things come from?" Kyle asked, trying to touch the skylight, but it was a foot out of his reach. He was already starting to feel sweaty.

"They used to keep prisoners in here back during their intraplanetary wars..." Piott said with a sigh.

Below them, a fan started blowing, and a small box crackled to life with white noise.

"Let's see here," the familiar deep voice said, breathing. It hissed in the speakers. "You don't believe me? I'm not joking around. And I'll kill someone to prove it."

On the box at their feet, a small square lit up, burning everyone's eyes. It revealed an active volcano, seen from directly above. Magma bubbled dangerously.

"Let's start with a lottery. I'm going to pick someone at random, and if they aren't all that important, they'll be sacrificed right in front of everyone's eyes," the voice said, obviously entertained.

There was a creepy swishing noise.

"I'm literally going to draw the name out of a hat. This'll be fun."

More swishing, then a hum. He was humming The Old Glory Days, an Earth drinking song.

The crackle of paper slips scratching as the winner was pulled out.

"And the winner is... Earth!" Soldiers clapped sarcastically in the background.

"Well, this is entertaining!" The voice said. “I’m native to Earth!”

Piott swore. “ – traitor.”

There was a rumble below their feet, and the floor split like a camera lens opening. Everyone fell into the blackness.